Centrally Managing CTERA Agents
Note: For information on installing and using the CTERA Agent on PC, refer to the CTERA Agent User Guide.
You can back up data from any computer on your network on which the CTERA Agent is installed to a network share on the cloud storage gateway. You can also use the CTERA Agent to easily back up roaming PCs and remote offices, even when they are outside your network.
The traffic generated by CTERA Agent backup operations can be secured with Transport Level Security (TLS) encryption.
Note: CTERA Agents can be remotely managed and monitored from the cloud storage gateway web interface.
The CTERA Agent supports the following types of backup operations:
• File-level backup
File-level backup allows backing up files and folders from the CTERA Agent local interface to the cloud storage gateway. The CTERA Agent can back up both unlocked and locked files.
• Application backup
You can back up the following Windows Server applications:
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Microsoft Exchange
• Microsoft Active Directory
• Microsoft Hyper V
• Microsoft SharePoint
Note: Application backup utilizes Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). VSS enables backups that are point-in-time and application-level consistent.
The backed up files and applications can later be restored as needed.
• Disk-level backup
Disk-level backup, also known as “bare-metal backup”, allows backing up an image of the CTERA Agent-installed computer’s hard drives to the cloud storage gateway. In case of an operating system error or a hard drive failure, the computer can be restored in full from the disk-level backup, returning the system to its exact state when the backup was performed. You can also restore disk-level backups to dissimilar hardware (provided it has sufficient disk space), and even to a virtual machine (VM).
When CTERA Agent is used in conjunction with CTERA’s Cloud Backup, a copy of disk-level backups is stored off site for complete disaster protection, while a local copy is maintained for fast restore. CTERA’s advanced deduplication efficiently handles the disk-level backups, ensuring that only differences are sent over the Internet.
When CTERA Agent is used in conjunction with CTERA’s NEXT3 snapshots, users can easily roll back to earlier versions of their disk-level images. NEXT3 ensures that only differences are stored between versions, thus greatly reducing the required storage space.
Disk-level backups are stored using the industry-standard Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file format. VHD files can be mounted using standard tools to allow extraction of individual files and folders, and it is even possible to run the VHD disk image on a virtual machine (VM) for immediate disaster recovery after hardware failures. For information on restoring files from disk-level backup, see Restoring Files from Disk-Level Backup.
Note: Disk-level backup operates over the Windows File Sharing protocol (CIFS). To perform disk-level backups, ensure that the computer running CTERA Agent has access to the cloud storage gateway using Windows File Sharing.
Note: Disk-level backup does not support backing up volumes larger than 2TB.
• System state backup
System state backup creates a backup file for critical system-related components. The system state data includes the registry, COM+ Class Registration database, files under Windows File Protection, and system boot files. Depending on the server’s configuration, additional data may be included in the system state data, as well. For example, if the server is a certificate server, the system state will also contain the Certificate Services database. If the server is a domain controller, Active Directory and the SYSVOL directory are also included in the system state data.